London Marathon 2012

Hello everybody.
I completed the London Marathon 2012 in 3hours 38minutes 58seconds, beating my previous year's time (of 4hrs 47mins 47secs) by more than an hour.

I am absolutely thrilled with this, as all those months of training and torture have finally paid off. I began my training for this marathon with the aim of beating last year's finishing time, but I did not expect to beat it quite by that much. I would have been very happy to finish fifteen minutes or even half an hour faster, but nearly seventy minutes? I don't think anybody expected that, least of all me.

So, here is where I explain how the London Marathon went. I shall try to make it sound original, because in many ways it was similar to last year's marathon. Firstly, I got up very early (5am), had breakfast, met my uncle at my nearest Tube station (plus my cousin-in-law and a friend who were taking part in their first marathon) and we all travelled to Greenwich Park together. There, we went our separate ways. I made sure to get to the toilets early to perform my ablutions and relieve myself of any last-minute nerves, before the queues got too long, otherwise you would probably spend more time queuing for the loo than you would actually running the marathon.

I did a few stretches and psyched myself up.  I tied my running chip to my shoe - this would calculate precisely what my finishing time would be, so it was imperative that I tied it properly so that it would not fall from my shoe mid-race!

The race began at around 9.45am, and this time, I was closer to the front than I was in last year's race. I crossed the start line roughly ten minutes after the first runners had set off (as opposed to 20 minutes last year). This meant that while I would initially still be surrounded on all sides and slowed down by slower runners during the first few miles, this would be much less of a problem than if I had started right at the back like last year.

I felt fitter than I did last year. I knew that I was faster and that I had more stamina, so it was not particularly difficult negotiating the first fifteen or so miles. Last year, they changed the route of the marathon slightly, so I was not able to run past the Cutty Sark. This year, it was back to the typical route, and I was able, for the first time, to see the famous clipper ship in all its splendour.
In terms of landmarks, other than the Cutty Sark, there wasn't a great deal to see until reaching Tower Bridge, about 12 miles in, but I was able to keep myself motivated by listening to the crowds and being buoyed by their cheering.

Running on Tower Bridge (about 12 miles in). Compared to last year, I seem to be having less difficulty at this stage, if the look on my face is anything to go by.

I reached the halfway point (13.1 miles -- yes, half of 26.2 miles is 13.1 miles) in 1 hour and 46 minutes. Already, things are looking positive because I recalled reaching the halfway mark in 2011 shortly after two hours had passed; this year, I was at least a quarter of an hour faster! At this relatively early stage, I was not going to get ahead of myself, because last year I suffered a bad case of fatigue and my second half was noticeably slower than my first half. Luckily, this year did not see a repeat of that situation, as I was still able to keep on running (as the Spencer Davis Group sang -- errr....ask your mothers). In fact, I ran a continuous 18 miles without stopping or walking, which, if I'm not mistaken, is the most I've ever run in one go without needing to walk. And even then, I did not need to walk for long - just long enough to take a few sips of water and Lucozade, and have a few energy sweets. I'm not sure what kept me going. Maybe it was from drinking all of that Lucozade and keeping well hydrated. Maybe it was the right sort of weather conditions that meant I was able to run comfortably. Maybe it was the determination to prove my doubters wrong in order to beat my previous finishing time. Maybe it was knowing what to expect, from having done the marathon last year. Maybe it was a combination of all of these. Everything seemed to fall into place really, so it was a very good run for me. I experienced very little pain or discomfort. My running vest was a little bit too big, so there was no rubbing or chafing of the nippular area. The temperature was neither too hot nor too cold. The rain that had been forecast did not arrive until long after I had finished the race. Overall, things went smoothly. I paced myself nicely, and looking at my race results afterwards, it's clear that I was very consistent; each 5km took me roughly 25 minutes. I'd also had my hair cut earlier that week. Perhaps that helped reduce wind resistance.

However, I did have to slow down and walk a couple of times, which there is absolutely no shame in doing. I believe I had a walk at mile 18, mile 20 and mile 22, but these were very short walks, for no more than 90seconds to two minutes, and then I was off and running again. I was also very lucky not to hit the dreaded wall. Tiredness did begin to set in, and my legs did indeed ache, but none of this prevented me from carrying on, and I was still able to run comfortably. While the last six miles of the 2011 marathon were sheer torture, the equivalent six miles this year were little more than a fairly difficult physical challenge.

On the Embankment, I saw various members of my family, which gave me such a huge physical and mental boost. My dad and brother cheering me on and taking photographs. To be told by my cousin, ecstatic, that I was "doing amazing!" was great. Further on down the Embankment, I saw another of my cousins, who was cheering on the runners for the Alzheimer's Society, who he works for. This year, the Embankment didn't seem quite as long. Birdcage Walk seemed much shorter than it did last year. Perhaps they seem longer when you're tired and struggling, but this time, I eased through them. Turning past Buckingham Palace and into the Mall, I got ready for my sprint finish and overtook seemingly dozens of other runners, literally roaring as I crossed the finish line. It's a roar of relief. Relief in knowing that all the training had paid off. It's also a roar of pain. Pain because by now my legs really were aching. It's also a roar of success. Success, because I can see that I have beaten my previous time, not by fifteen minutes, not by half an hour, but by more than an hour. 3:38:58 is the magic number.

Me with my medal, shortly after finishing the marathon.

Exhausted, I gulped down some water, collected my medal, and had a few photos taken of me by the official photographers, then made my way to Horse Guards Parade, to meet the representatives from the charity Action on Hearing Loss, for whom I ran the marathon. I had a banana and drank a little more, then made my way to the portable toilets. 26 miles of running can do funny things to one's digestive system, you know.
After that, I made my way to the charity's post-race reception, where I met some of the other runners, and had a massage. I was hoping for the masseuse to be a tall, blonde, Swedish woman (not sure why exactly, and she wasn't either), but the massage was very pleasant and the masseuse was gentle and eased my general soreness and stiffness.

Meanwhile, my dad and brother are still on the Embankment, waiting for other members of the family to pass by, before they come to find me. My uncle finished in 5hrs, 9minutes, and his son-in-law, my cousin-in-law, finishes in just over 7 hours, owing to a leg injury sustained about halfway into the race, so it is quite some time before I am reunited with the rest of my family, but I don't care. I'm just feeling incredibly proud of myself (which is something that I don't normally do, as modesty forbids). Plenty of people have congratulated me and told me how proud they are of me and the time in which I completed the race; their good wishes, support and sponsorship have touched me deeply, and I know that I could not have done it all without them.